


Chronic

by LittleMissSweetgrass



Series: Giant Alien Robots Can Get Sick? [2]
Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Character Study, Chronic Illness, Chronic Pain, Cosmos doesn't realize hes basically the new stepdad even though everyone else knows, M/M, Not Beta Read, my reasoning for why Cosmos changes sizes a lot in IDW
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 01:24:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16863625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleMissSweetgrass/pseuds/LittleMissSweetgrass
Summary: Everyone had secrets.This was just a fact of life, and ever since the war started, secrets became something of a currency, something to trade or exchange for more. Secrets are what helped fuel the war, and mechs had dedicated their whole lives just to find these hidden treasures.Cosmos’ personal secrets weren't anything that would be considered interesting or sought after since the war was over.See, Cosmos was a mini-bot.





	Chronic

**Author's Note:**

> I was going through some of my chronic pain and took it out on poor Cosmos
> 
> Mass displacement was an interesting concept, and I liked how in Lost Light it was described as something that could cause intense pain too, so I just took that idea and ran with it.

Everyone had secrets.

This was just a fact of life, and ever since the war started, secrets became something of a currency, something to trade or exchange for more. Secrets are what helped fuel the war, mechs had dedicated their whole lives just to find these hidden treasures.

Cosmos’ personal secrets weren't anything that would be considered interesting or sought after since the war was over. Before the war, however, it would have gotten him in trouble, maybe not have gotten him any jobs, and definitely would have made him a type of social outcast.

See, Cosmos was a mini-bot. 

Now this on it’s own wasn't bad, slag, even some of the most famous Autobots were minis! But a mini-bot who’s frame type was a shuttle? A bot who’s whole purpose was to shuttle and ferry other Cybertronians and objects through space or over long periods of time? 

It was the perfect Functionalist nightmare: a shuttle that can’t fit even a standard mech or hardly any goods to transport. Since he was so small, he probably wasn't even that good at the only other thing fliers can supposedly do, fight. 

So in the optics of those who cared, his whole purpose was moot. And with the rise of pre-war Functionalism he did what any bot with a nano-byte of self-preservation in their programming would do. 

Spend the next six million and so years under the stress and strain of mass displacement to make himself look a normal shuttle size and paid an arm and a leg to get someone to fudge around with his medical records. 

Oh believe him, he was well aware how stupid it was to even think about putting himself under the constant spark strain just to hide. In those early years he honestly thought death or permanent stasis would be better than having his spark pulse and shudder and feel so thin. But, when he was alone, he could shrink back down and relieve the stress. 

So for those brief, fleeting moments life was manageable, and Cosmos continued to live. 

But when the war started? And he was needed all the time to ferry supplies, mechs, and was constantly surrounded by others? Well let’s just say that he quickly became accustomed to the strain and constant sharp pain in his chassis. Frag, he was even dismissing the bright red alerts flashing across his HUD maintenance feeds without a thought. 

It got to the point where his thin spark registered as a normal and shrinking back down at all would begin feel like pain and a constricting tightness instead of relief. 

Later near the end of the war, when Cybertron had fallen, the armies were scattered to the stars, and he was alone for long periods of time in the vast emptiness of space surveying, he often forgot to shrink back down even if it was safe for him to do so. He kind of forgot he was a mini-bot. Forgot what it was like to not have that sharp pull torment his pain receptors. Like so many others during the war, pain just became something he had to deal with.

He spent six million years as a normal sized shuttle and ignored the fluttery pain of his spark like one would with a dented frame. Because of the years of hiding his secret before the war, he was pretty used to not getting injured enough to be sent to the medical ward, or learned how to do basic repair himself if he did need a quick fix. If he was injured enough that he couldn't fix it himself, he opted to wait to get patched up by mechs too frazzled and busy from the rush of patients from the war not to notice the extra spark strain or sketchy records and continued to slip under the radar.

This worked up until he decided to go on the Lost Light and was subjected to a standard medical check up by Ratchet. That mech could smell trouble from a mile away, which meant that Cosmos’ forged records lasted about a nano-klik before the CMO found out the truth. 

The angered yelling about _“How stupid are you?! You glitched green waste of processor space! What were you thinking?!”_ that ensued after was stressful for sure. The medic was honestly surprised Cosmos’ hadn't dropped dead of a spark attack at any given moment during the war. Since most mechs who practiced continuous mass displacement tended to died from spark strain and or killed themselves over the constant unbearable pain after a century, max. Not to mention the condition worsened under stress.

After he calmed down, the CMO had put him on a strict physical therapy schedule, and even made mandatory appointments with Rung to make sure Cosmos felt comfortable being smaller and tackling any emotional or mental strain from the physical therapy. Rung was great and even helped Cosmos develop ways to maintain healthier coping strategies when he had “Off Days” for his physical therapy.

By the time Cosmos left the Lost Light and, through a series of very stressful events, ended up settled at Soundwave’s Sanctuary, he was slightly smaller than the average mech. It wasn’t even that painful to be that size either! The pain he did feel, felt like it did when he started doing the mass displacement all those years ago. A low, achy stretch that was just a little too much, like if someone stretched their transformation seams a little to far. It kinda hurt to move and vent sometimes, but bearable enough that Cosmos could push through it and go about his day. 

It helped that Rung had worked with him to figure out a daily routine that helped him deal with the pain on a daily level, not just when he had “Off Days” where the pain was so much more intense that he could hardly think. Buzzsaw and Laserbeak would always tease and heckle him for his morning stretches and his little flight laps around the station, but more often than not he would see them attempting to join in with the simpler stretches when they thought he wasn’t paying attention. Buzzsaw in particular enjoyed egging Cosmos into impromptu races instead of the normal gentle flights he would take.

So all of this is what’s prompting Cosmos’ current problem. 

He’s experiencing the start to his “Off Days.” Rung and Ratchet had helped him through them before, and it wasn’t even the first one he’s had since leaving the Lost Light. He knew one would rear its ugly head up again. Progress is never a straight line after all. 

But when he onlined this morning from recharge, securely in the arms of his still recharging partner, feeling claustrophobic in his own armour. A dozen of panicking alerts over his display about false readings about the stretchy ache/pressure on his spark, he knew what was going on. The only downside was that this was the first time he’s experienced his “Off Days” while on the Sanctuary. 

He took a shaky vent, ignoring the pain that spread across his chassis from the movement. Ok, he knew what to do this was fine. Game plan time: first, lower pain receptors; then, deep vents until he can think clearly; next, see if he’s able to move, if not comm. someone and get a medic; then, if he can move, try and mass displace just a little, not too much to damage his spark further but just enough to lessen the pain; finally, wait a whole ten kliks and shrink back down, repeat until pain is bearable or a breem has passed, then take his medication and update his medical log and try not to move too much if possible until the flare up ended.

After he took his medication, the urge to mass displace would lessen, but it didn’t do anything about the pain. That was permanent damage to his spark, which nothing could cure, unfortunately. Ratchet was supposed to up his dosage before he left, so he could continue to ween off the physical need of mass displacement for good. But, well, being attacked by Overlord and dealing with the after effects tended to make a mech forget about the little things like perception updates.

Ok, he can do this, he manually turned his receptors down a little and sagged into Soundwave’s embrace at the relief. Right, now it’s time to vent. He opened his vents wide and took a deep intake. 

Then nearly offline from the pain. Frag ok, receptors need to be lower, great. 

One more time. He took another deep vent, a little more hesitant than the first, but the pain was better this time, not like his spark was about to jump out of his chassis. With that, he continued to vent until he felt a little calmer. Now he could feel how stiff the rest of his frame was from the tension. But the tension was normal, so he didn’t worry too much about it.

Alright, step two. Cosmos wiggled his digits first, the pain lancing down his lines at the movement wasn’t the worst he felt. In fact the joints weren’t as stiff there as he thought, so he decided it was ok to try and wiggle a pede.

Soundwave gave a sleepy grumble at the movement, and tightened his embrace a little. Not yet awake but not willing to let his recharge companion go either.

Slag, Cosmos forgot about the Decepticon. Don’t know how, seeing as he was in the mech’s room, in his berth. 

The shuttle began to panic a little again, which when mixed with the stress and pain started to turn into fear. 

Slag, he had to get out of here before Soundwave woke up, maybe fly off the Sanctuary before he mass displaced. If he could get up without collapsing that is. 

He tried his best to wiggle out of Soundwave’s hold without waking him, ignoring the sharp jolts he got from the non-prepped movement. He didn’t want to deal with the mess that would happen if Soundwave found out about anything! It would be bad enough for the host that his maybe-partner-maybe-something-else was hiding important life facts about them from him. But the possibility of Soundwave or any of the Decepticons seeing Cosmos larger than he was the day before, would lead to losing any trust he gained in these last few months and being chased off the ship or worse.

Cosmos was no fool, he was once an Autobot spy, and knew what happened to Decpticons that were not seen as trustworthy, and could only imagine what would they even do to an Autobot that betrayed them, even if the war was over!

He had to get out of here! As soon as he started to move his spark fluttered with pain, most likely from all the anxiety induced stress, and he gave a small, involuntary whimper. 

At the sound, the brilliant red visor beside him snapped online. 

“ _Cosmos,_ ” Soundwave’s voice was a little staticky from recharge as he sat up. Even though Cosmos couldn’t see past the visor, he knew the other mech was giving him a brief once over. “What’s wrong, my Little Autobot, you sounded in pain.” There was the brief sensation of another’s field brushing over his, checking. “You feel hurt.” This was said with a slightly panicked tone, and at once both Soundwave and Cosmos jerked, but for different reasons. “I’ll call the medics, you lay back down.”

Cosmos wriggled out of the concerned yet firm push of Soundwave’s servos as he was being corralled into laying back down. “I’m fine! Really, I’m fine, I just need to leave. Uh, I—I need to just, go flying for a bit.” 

Cosmos got out of the berth despite Soundwave’s noise of complaint and judging optics. His spark felt like it was trying to burst out of his small-feeling chassis and he wobbled a bit on his pedes. Frag, he shouldn’t have stood up so quickly. His back strut felt like it was screaming in protest with being vertical and Cosmos could feel coolant welling up behind his visor.

“You need to fly?” 

“Yeah! You know us fliers, we get all twitchy if we don’t spread our wings every once in a while!”

The red visor bore into his own. “I see, and your race around the Sanctuary two Earth days ago with Buzzsaw, instead of checking the haul for wear, wasn’t enough flight time?” 

Oh scrap, Soundwave’s got him, he totally forgot about the slacking off they did. “Uhh—“ Cosmos nervously glanced away, digits twitching like they were trying to grasp something, then looked back to his maybe-something-but-not-for-long. 

“Well, ‘ya see—“ He couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to lie to this mech, not to the one that actually listened to him.

Not meeting the visor’s burning gaze, the shuttle took another deep vent —winced— and said, “I can’t—don’t, want you to see me like this, Soundwave.” His voice was so small, the edges laced with static from all the emotion and pain. “I just need to go for a short flight, nothing bad I promise! I’ll be back soon, or if you don’t want me back thats fine too I’ll just—“ He choked up, not wanting to think about where he’ll have to go if Soundwave doesn’t want him here anymore. 

The Sanctuary was beginning to feel like home, he didn’t want to leave.

“Cosmos,” The shuttle couldn’t look up, he didn’t want to see the mech’s face as he told him to get out. Soundwave huffed, like he was dealing with his rambunctious Cassettes, and started walking around the other side of the berth. He firmly placed a servo on Cosmos’ shoulder, the other under his chin to tilt his helm up. Finally, Cosmos met his gaze. “Tell me what is troubling you, my Little Autobot, so that I can help you fix whatever is going on.”

Cosmos wavered under that gaze. What was he thinking, of course Soundwave wouldn’t toss him out because of a medical condition. He wasn’t cruel, he always tried so hard to make everyone aboard the station happy, especially Cosmos. The pain and stress must have been altering his thought process more than he originally thought. 

“I—“ Static frizzed along his vocal cords, “I’m sorry, it’s just—“ 

Suddenly his back strut couldn’t handle the pressure anymore and Cosmos’ pedes just collapsed from the sudden intensity of pain behind his chestplates. His spark felt like it was burning through it’s casting. 

Everything felt so tight and his vocalizer shorted out before he could cry out. The coolant welling up blurred his vision, not that he could focus on anything anyways over that flare of pain. 

There were several blazing pops along his spinal strut and the pain peaked. The last thing he saw before he was forced into a emergency shut down was the panicked glint of Soundwave’s visor. 

________  
It took a while, he didn’t know how long, but he realized he was venting again. Everything felt numb, like his pain receptors were completely offline. 

He tried to move a digit but found that he couldn’t feel his servos. Weird, he didn’t feel as panicked about the loss of feeling as he felt he should be. Did he short his receptors out? Ratchet always said that completely shutting down his pain receptors was dangerous as it was linked to the touch sensors and would knock them offline too. Maybe he finally fragged himself up so much that he broke himself completely.

Something was moving beside him, a blueish blur, and he tried to tilt his helm over to look but felt lost as processor couldn’t seem to find the movement command. Text suddenly filled his HUD.

**Hello Cosmos, my name is Rest-Q, I am the medic assigned to your case from the Iacon Medical Facility. I am currently connected and speaking to you via a medical interface, do you understand?**

What? Everything felt foggy in his processor, he could understand the voice, but he didn’t know why a medic would be here, and it still didn’t tell him why he couldn't move. The blue blur beside him moved closer to the centre of his vision, but the image didn’t sharpen.

**Ah, yes. I apologize for the complete sensor shut down. I’m afraid there was no other way to lower your stress levels significantly enough. I was surprised at how much pain was still being registered with your settings so low. You must have a very high pain tolerance, as any other mech would have been forced into stasis lock or had their spark dissipate!**

The sub-glyphs used indicated that the medic was impressed. His HUD reported that there was nothing wrong with his optics, but that there was still coolant smeared over the lens. Oh so that was why he couldn’t see. He sent the diagnostic to the medic.

**Oh, my apologies, Cosmos. We’ll get that cleared up right away.**

The shuttle couldn’t hear the click of his visor being removed, but he did see the notification of a manual removal. A large shape moved towards his optics and he dimmed them for the moment. When he relit them, he was greeted to the wonderful image of Soundwave’s features. Oh, so he was the blue blur, that was nice. 

Soundwave stared down at Cosmos, if he was speaking the shuttle couldn’t know, but he did see the host reach up and cup his faceplates with his servo. Primus he wished he could feel the warmth from that touch, or move into it.

**Soundwave was quite worried about you. He sent all his cassettes and Sky-Byte to the medical facility, with all the ruckus they were making we thought it was Soundwave himself who was on the brink, not his Conjux.**

The glyphs were almost teasing in a warm way and Cosmos felt a rush of embarrassment wash through him. They weren’t Conjux! The other mech was just worried cause Cosmos must have passed out in his berthroom, that would have shocked anyone!

The medic chuckled, **If you say so!** Soundwave finally looked away from Cosmos to glare at something on the shuttle’s other side. From the embarrassment in the next glyphs sent, the medic must have been on the other end of that look. 

**Right, back to business. Cosmos, I’ve looked over your medical file and it seems like you experience chronic spark pain regularly, correct?** He waited for an acknowledgement before continuing. **While I have noticed that your routine diagnostic results have improved ever since you have been seeing your medics, Ratchet and Rung is it? So I don’t believe that this episode was caused by any worsening condition, so you have nothing to worry about on that department! However, I believe that this extreme reaction could have been caused by excess spark stress as well as several burn outs from your pain receptors along your spinal strut.**

Oh so thats what happened. Spinal injuries were troubling, as they were connected directly to the processor, so would he be ok?

**I believe you will make a full recovery! I have already completed the minor surgery and applied the allowed medical dosage needed to combat the spark surges, so we can ease you back into sensory feeling again. However, I would recommend keeping your pain receptors dialled down to no lower than 60% as we don’t want to miss any further complications. Oh, and strict berth rest as well. I have already sent a data-packet to Soundwave on your recommended medical schedule and needs. I’m going to restart your receptors now, alright? You will experience pain and I’ll need you too tell me if it is too much.**

He waited for Cosmos to send back a confirmation, and then Cosmos could feel again. It started off as a light buzz of two electromagnetic fields pressed against his own, a tingle at his digit-tips, a light ringing that cleared out into soft ventilations, warmth from the cupped servo on his faceplates, a relieved sigh, “Oh, my Little Autobot.”

Then the pain seeped back in, an ache that lingered behind all the reawakening sensations. A plating deep feeling where the light tingle twisted into a dull throb. He didn’t even realized he tensed up again until a new face popped up into his view. 

Red faceplates, white helm, blue optics. This must be Rest-Q, the shuttle though distantly. 

**Yes, wonderful to meet you optic to optic Cosmos. Now, your frame is tense but your readings are stable. Is everything alright?**

“Ah, yes.” Oh Primus, his voice sounded awful. “I—I’m normally tense, I guess. It’s fine.”

The medic gave a hum and glanced over to Soundwave, as if to ask for a confirmation.

“I had noticed that Cosmos is normally tense, unless he is sleeping. I just assumed it was in regard to his feeling uncomfortable surrounded by Decepticons, or a personality tick. Not a medical condition.” 

The medic hummed again and leaned back out of view. Cosmos huffed and tilted his head to follow the movement, the host’s servo trailing up to pat his helm as well. 

The medic made a few notes on a datapad, then handed it over to Soundwave. When he opened his mouth the most alien sounds came out, startling Cosmos a little. However, the Decepticon just nodded along, as if he understood perfectly.

“I’ll see if I can get someone to come aboard the Sanctuary for regular sessions, but the only mechs I know with the ability are either unstable or untrustworthy and are barred access. I will contact some acquaintances from the colonies to see if they have any specialists on hand.”

Rest-Q made those sounds again, however with his helm tilted like that it made it seem like he was offering a question.

“Knock Out’s conjux you say? I didn’t think he had the ability. I’ll definitely contact him then, thank you for the suggestion.”

The medic gave a small smile and turned back to Cosmos. Text began to scroll across his HUD. **Sorry about that Cosmos, didn’t mean to leave you out of the conversation. I was merely asking Soundwave if he would allow regular scheduled appointments for a mag-pulse therapist aboard the ship for you. It is your decision, however I think a couple of sessions with a specialist will help you with this tension in your frame. Relaxing your cables and regular realignment should help with the lingering ache as well!**

The medic stood and did a slow once over on his patient. **I have given Soundwave a copy of the schedule I’d like you to follow, as well as my contact information and office hours for house calls, but please feel free to call me anytime if you feel it’s an emergency.**

There was a ping from his comm. link. **I’ve sent you a copy as well, so you can look it over on your own. Now, I want you to relax for the rest of the next couple of cycles, nothing strenuous if you must move, as we don’t want to blow out your spinal strut again. And if you need to fly I recommend going as slow as you can with a companion incase it’s too much on your spark. I've upped your dosage for your current medication as it was overdue, as well as your newly added prescription for spark flares— which is all on your end table here.** He waved a dark grey servo at the several cylinder containers. **Take three tabs of the new medication with mid-grade energon a cycle for seven cycles and I’ll be back after then for a check up to see how you’re fairing. The other pills take once every five cycles instead of just when you have flare up like you have been, alright?**

The medic gave a warm smile, happy with Cosmos’ condition and convinced he was in capable servos with how dedicated Soundwave was with reading over the datapad. **Do you have any questions, Cosmos?**

The shuttle shook his head slightly, a little overwhelmed. Rest-Q gave a nod and then unplugged his interface cord from the mini-bot’s medical port. He collected and subspaced some tools he had, whistled more of that strange language at Soundwave, then left with a little wave.

Once the door swooshed shut behind him Cosmos sank a little more into the berth. Primus he was exhausted. A tap on his helm made him turn to look at Soundwave. 

Guilt radiated from the green shuttle’s field as he looked over at the host, so Soundwave moved to rest the datapad on an end table and grasped the smaller mech’s servo. 

“Cosmos, I don’t mean to stress you out more by asking this. But why did you not tell me of your condition? Did you really think so little of me and my Decepticons that I would cast you out or harm you in some way for a weakness?” 

The blue mech lifted a servo up to his face. His battle mask slipped aside to reveal his plump dermas, which he brushed against the red digits in a light kiss. “I truly do care for you, my Little Autobot. And seeing you— feeling you— in pain with no idea what the cause was or how to help, it’s something I wish too never experience again.”

Cosmos felt his spark break at the words. Before he knew it, coolant was blurring his vision again and he lifted a shaky hand to try and rub at his optics. The fact that he realized his visor was still off, so that this wonderful mech could see him sob like a newspark at the kind words made him sob even harder. Soundwave made gentle shushing noises while wiping the tears away. He rubbed comforting circles into his exposed cheeks and peppered his other servo with light kisses.

“I—I’m so _sorry_. I didn’t think— I’ve always had to hide this so I never thought that you’d— that I should even—“ Cosmos voice broke between his static sobs. 

Soundwave didn’t say anything for a while, just continued to comfort the shuttle until his tears stopped flowing and his sobs became little, near-silent hiccups.

The blue mech pressed Cosmos’ servo to his lips, not so much a kiss as it was just a grounding pressure. After a klik he pulled back, keeping his grip on the servo firm yet rubbing his thumb along the back in a repetitive motion. 

“I think I understand, you don’t need to say any more.” At this he finally dragged his gaze away from Cosmos since the medic left. He glanced towards the door, helm tilted as he listened to someone outside the berth room. 

Cosmos followed his gaze and turned his audials up slightly. He could barely hear Buzzsaw’s heckling screech and Rumble swearing back at the mechanimal just outside of the door— they must be keeping a watch over the berthroom. 

“Our world has never been kind to those it could not exploit.” This last bit was said in a hushed voice, probably not meant to be heard by Cosmos’ dialled up hearing. There was an old type of anger and sorrow seeping into the tone that made the shuttle shiver a little. 

But then the host turned back to Cosmos, optics softening, derma split into a slight smile. He let go of the mini’s helm, reaching over to retrieve and return his blue visor. “Here,” he helped snap the visor back into place. “You must be low on fuel and exhausted. I’ll get us some energon and we can both rest for the rest of the cycle, if you’d like.”

Soundwave made to stand up, placing a kiss to Cosmos helm. “Wait, what about running your station?” Soundwave never took a break, Cosmos was lucky if he wasn’t in recharge when the mech came stumbling back into his room for the night. 

The mech straightened, battle mask snapping back into place, giving him the illusion of indifference. At least if only one couldn’t see the amused gleam on his visor. “Ah, I was told by Sky-Byte, and several of my command staff, that if I tried to work today I would be jettisoned off my own station and they’d send us both over to the Autobots.”

Cosmos didn’t know what to say to that, just blinking tiredly and sinking deeper into the berth padding. “Huh.”

Soundwave tilted his helm at him, “I’ll be back.” As he moved closer to the door, it swooshed open and all of the Cassettes rushed in. The only reason Soundwave wasn’t knocked over, that Cosmos could think of, was because he was used to the rambunctious rough housing near him.

“Shuttle-butt you’re awake!”

“Thank frag, I never want to see the boss so panicked again! If it wouldn’t upset him even more I would have kicked your aft plates for getting him so riled up!”

The berth jostled as the twins flung themselves onto it at full force, narrowly avoiding Cosmos’ struts. The birds landed with a softer dip, which Cosmos was grateful for.

“Oh please I’ve seen your aim, you could hardly hurt a glitch mouse let alone a damaged Autobot.”

“Shut your mouth bird brain!”

“You can’t talk to Frenzy like that, you flying piece of scrap metal!”

“I’d like to see you try and make me stop!” 

“We’ll I’d like you all too shut your traps and stop shaking the berth! The Autobrat is sick and if you three glitches make it worse the Boss’ll go ballistic!” Laserbeak finally snapped at her siblings. 

She was huddled close to Cosmos, one wing spread out protectively over his chassis where his spark was. The rest were mid a full out wrestling match at the foot of the berth and while Cosmos was amused, he was thankful Laserbeak stepped in. The yelling was getting to be too much. As thanks, he brushed a shaky digit over her other wing.

There was some grumbling, and the twins settled down into a comfortable sprawl at the end of the berth. Buzzsaw huffed and joined his sister near the head of the berth, perching on the headboard instead of cuddling the Autobot.

It was to this scene that Soundwave returned too: a lightly dozing Autobot, surrounded by Cassettes. Rumble and Frenzy passed out, slightly snoring at his pedes, with Laserbeak protectively sprawled along his chassis, completely zonked out. Buzzsaw was also clearly exhausting from the drama, but was still keeping himself awake to watch over the group. He gave a tired warble in greeting to his host when he walked in. 

He smiled behind his mask. He snapped a quick image capture to send to Ravage, and for his future keepsake, before walking over to place the cubes on Cosmos’ berthside table. “For later.”

The green mini just hummed in thanks, and finally drifted off when Soundwave climbed back into the berth. There was some shifting and grumbling, but Soundwave had his servos wrapped back around the minibot, spooning him with Laserbeak pressed up on his other side. Buzzsaw hopped off his perch to snuggle into his host’s back.

Cosmos could feel his plating relaxing slightly in the embrace, the dull throb tuning out into a background sensation. Something bearable, something he had dealt with for millennia, something he could make himself ignore. So with that, he drifted off back into recharge.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! If you see any mistakes or have any comments on the idea just feel free to tell me!
> 
> Also if you were wondering, Rest-Q is a minor medic not an OC (I think hes a one time character) that died on Velocitron in the IDW comics, and has a condition known as Foreign Vocalizer Syndrome where he speaks in rare alien languages, so I fiddled around with this concept and made it so he can write in Cybertronian (to Cosmos) but also be understood by Soundwave cause im sure he knows languages.
> 
> I just thought he had a cool name and looked like Tracks so i slapped him in. And i figured how fun would it be to have a disabled doctor in here as well? 
> 
> U can do whatever U put ur mind 2 kids, dont let things like constant pain or speech problems stop u from achieving your dreams!! but also dont neglect ur health thats Bad News Bears :(


End file.
